The Pella City Council will have final say on the latest proposal for a new Casey’s General Store following a pair of measures passed by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
A Planned Unit Development zoning change was recommended to the city council on a 9-1 vote and the revised site plan was conditionally approved 7-3 by the commission Monday night. Both votes came after another heated public hearing.
The site plan will be granted the go-ahead if the Pella City Council approves the PUD after three readings at upcoming council meetings, the first of which is scheduled for September 6th.
As seemingly was the case at previous meetings featuring Casey’s Marketing Company proposals, neighborhood residents who spoke were strongly against a new store at the corner of Main and Union, citing concerns with the new site plan and its impact on the area.
Planning and Zoning Commission member Robin Pfalzgraf has been at the center of a legal battle between the City of Pella and Casey’s after she was accused of improperly voting on a previous site plan request despite encouragement from legal counsel not to do so. She gave an emotional plea to Casey’s representatives to stop their efforts to build the new location.
“To make a decision that is against so many people’s wishes makes me sick,” she said. “I can only implore Casey’s to reconsider the location, and I can’t understand why you won’t consider other options.”
Other board members, including Gary Van Vark, credited Casey’s for addressing concerns on multiple occasions, and felt they had passed all necessary hurdles before voting yes on the site plan.
If a new store is approved, three others in town will be closed, but according to the possible PUD under consideration, the sites would be required to be re-purposed after Casey’s leaves them.